Family
by Zanza8
Summary: Set during the Jinchuu arc. Sanosuke returns to Tokyo and shares something with Megumi.


There was an urgent pounding on the clinic door and Megumi hurried down the hall, calling, "What happened? Is it an emergency case?" She was prepared for anything but the tall young man leaning on the doorjamb and looking at her appealingly.

Sanosuke grimaced and extended his right hand. "I've done it again. Can you look at it?"

Megumi drew herself up, furious at the sight of blood soaking through the bandages. "I thought I told you I have no medicine for idiots!" He didn't respond and she saw that he was trembling with exhaustion. Relenting, she took his good hand and pulled his arm around her shoulder to support him. "Come on, let's get you fixed up."

They went into the kitchen and she got him some water. He drank thirstily, finishing three cups. "Thanks."

"I'll be right back." Megumi went to the supply room, returning with bandages and various ointments, and Sanosuke tensed as she sat next to him and reached for his hand. "I'll try not to hurt you."

"I know." He relaxed as she carefully unwrapped the bandages, shaking her head sadly at the latest damage. "I suppose this was unavoidable?"

"It was if some good people were not going to lose their lives."

Megumi remained silent as she cleaned Sano's hand and bound it up again. Somehow it had never bothered her that Kenshin, Yahiko, and even Karou engaged in battles and suffered injuries-she accepted it as a part of their lives and something that was necessary to who they were. But Sanosuke, in his own way as powerful as Kenshin, was a different story-his smallest bruise caused her pain, and she wished every time he got hurt that he would settle down to a more peaceful way of life. She finished the bandage, checking to make sure it was not too tight. "How does that feel?"

"Better." He sighed with relief, smiling at her. "You're a good doctor, fox lady."

"That's because I get so much practice on you, rooster head. You look like you could use some food."

He smiled at her. "Always, if it's your cooking."

Megumi went to the pantry and got some smoked fish and a plate of sticky rice balls. "Where have you been?"

Sano fell on the food and ate in silence for a few minutes, then said, "Until yesterday I was in Shinshuu."

"Yesterday! You made it here from Shinshuu in just one day?"

Sanosuke grinned. "Yeah, it's amazing what humans can do when they put their minds to it, isn't it?"

Megumi smiled to herself. "It's a Japanese record, isn't it?"

"Probably."

He was puffed up with pride and she couldn't resist the temptation to deflate him. "The Japanese record for stupidity. Who could have guessed you'd go to Shinshuu. Why so far?" Sano looked away, his face downcast. The silence stretched out and finally Megumi touched his shoulder and said gently, "You don't have to tell me. I didn't mean to pry into something personal, Sanosuke."

He hesitated. "If it could just stay between us…."

"Of course."

"It's not that I've done anything I'm ashamed of. It's just…." He paused again, then took a deep breath. "I was born in Shinshuu. When I found myself there….I ran into my father."

Megumi's eyes widened. "Your father? I always thought you were an orphan."

"In a way I was. I left home to join the Sekihoutai when I was just a kid-I was barely nine years old, and after the massacre, I didn't dare go home. Everybody in the village knew where I had gone-if I was dead with the "false army" my family would be safe, but if I showed up…."

"Why did you leave your home in the first place?" asked Megumi softly. "Were you unhappy?"

Sanosuke looked surprised. "No. We were poor-my father was a farmer and I was working beside him in the fields as soon as I could walk, but I wasn't unhappy. My mother made a good home for us, and my little sister Uki-she used to follow me everywhere, calling Sanosuke-ni-chan, Sanosuke-ni-chan…." He stared into the distance, lost in his memories.

"So you had a good home and you still left at nine years old to follow an army?" Megumi shook her head.

"I suppose it does sound strange," said the young man slowly. "But it wasn't like I was running away from anything-it was more that I wanted to do something with my life." He smiled shyly. "I wanted to change the world, and when the Sekihoutai came, I thought it was a chance to do great things."

"But your family?"

"My father wouldn't have wanted me to go. I didn't ask permission-I just left, but my mother….she was such a gentle little woman, but she understood that as young as I was, I had to strike out on my own. The night I left she was waiting for me by the road. She gave me a red headband-she said she had noticed how all the men wore them and she wanted me to look right when I got to the army….and that she was proud of me…." Sanosuke's face clouded. "She died a few years ago. She had one more child, a little boy, but she got sick after him and she died…." His eyes were pools of sorrow and Megumi touched his shoulder. "It's all right. I had to give them all up long ago and I've made my peace with it, but I do wish I could have seen her one more time. First the Missy, then my mother…."

Megumi realized with a jolt that he still didn't know about Karou. "Let's go out to the porch, Sanosuke. I have something to tell you."

He looked puzzled at that, but obediently followed her to the porch. They sat side by side for a while, looking up at the stars in silence. Megumi had left the clinic door open and there was enough light to see each other, but the shadows pressed close around them and she hoped the peaceful night would help with what she had to say. Taking a deep breath, she turned to the young man. "Sanosuke, what I have to tell you is that Karou isn't dead."

He stared at her as if she had lost her mind. "How can you say such a thing? We all saw….we saw…."

"I know what we saw but it wasn't Karou!" Megumi took Sano's good hand in both of hers and held it tightly. "Do you remember her sending to Kyoto for Tomoe's diary?"

Sanosuke nodded. "I remember."

"Misao brought it right after the funeral. Aoshi was with her and he knew about some criminal who made human dolls out of flesh…." Megumi swallowed hard. "And he was suspicious about Karou's death-he opened the grave and….and he cut open the body…."

Sano was white with shock. "You let him do that?"

"We had to know!" Megumi's eyes filled with tears.

"How could you not know?" The young man pulled his hand away and shouted, "You're supposed to be a doctor! How could you be fooled like that?"

"Because the only person whose body I know well enough _not_ to be fooled about is yours!" Megumi's voice broke and tears spilled down her cheeks.

Sanosuke's anger died as abruptly as it had come and he wrapped his arms around the young woman. "It's all right, Megumi." His voice was very low and he rocked her gently. "I'm sorry….I'm sorry."

"I've had to patch you up so many times, Sanosuke," she sobbed, "and after Saito I sat with you for days and nights-if it had been you I would have known, but I never had to take care of Karou….how could I know?"

"You couldn't," soothed the young man. "Don't mind me….I'm an idiot and a brute."

"And Aoshi-he said we had to know, because if it wasn't Karou, it meant she was alive somewhere and we could save her..."

Megumi's voice trailed away and for a long time there was only the sound of her weeping and Sanosuke's wordless murmuring. She finally relaxed against him and he stroked her hair and smiled down at her. "Better?"

She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder and smiled back, then sat up slowly. "Better." She sighed. "I haven't cried since we found that….that _thing_ with Karou's face, and then so much happened-Sir Ken…." Her eyes dropped. "You…."

Remembering how he had wandered off after the funeral, Sanosuke was ashamed and said in a low voice, "I shouldn't have left. I should have been here, for you and Yahiko and Kenshin."

"It's all right." Megumi stood up. "It's good you came back when you did-one more day and you might have missed us."

He looked startled. "What do you mean?"

"We've located the place where Karou is being held and as soon as we can, we're going to get her."

"Then Kenshin…."

"He returned a couple of days ago. Yahiko tried to fight an escaped criminal who was destroying the town, and Tsubame went to get Sir Ken. He was still just sitting in that terrible place, but when he heard Yahiko was in danger, he came. He's here in the clinic now-so is Yahiko…."

"Are they all right?" asked Sano anxiously.

She smiled reassuringly. "They're both fine. We're just waiting for them to get back on their feet and then we're going to rescue Karou."

The young man stood up slowly, a troubled look on his face. "I should have been here."

"Well, you're here now." He yawned widely and she continued, "You should get some sleep. The clinic is full of wounded and Dr. Gensai is sharing his room with Aoshi and Misao…."

She paused and Sano raised his eyebrows. "Well?"

"You could share my room." She gave him a forbidding look. "_Just_ my room-I'll get some extra bedding."

"If you're sure…."

"I'm sure. Now that we're all together, I'd like to keep it that way until we leave."

The young man smiled. "All right. I would like to get cleaned up first."

"Of course. You know where the bathhouse is-the fire's out, but there's plenty of soap and shampoo and towels, if you don't mind cold water."

"After what you told me, I don't think I'll even notice the cold water."

And he didn't, although he was a little surprised to find his clothes gone and Dr. Gensai's yukata waiting for him when he left the bathhouse. Surely Megumi hadn't taken his clothes to wash them at this time of the night?

She had, and Sanosuke felt a wave of tenderness towards her when he saw his jacket and pants scrubbed clean and hung out to dry on the porch. It was little things like this that made him wonder just how she did feel about him and almost emboldened him to finally tell her how he felt about her. Almost. When he went back inside and found her waiting, he was as tongue-tied as ever, and he took refuge in a joke. "I was sure you had decided to finally burn my clothes."

"I thought about it, but then I decided they were just worth saving." Megumi lit a candle and blew out the lamp in the kitchen. "Well, come on. We'd better try and get some sleep-we may have a long trip tomorrow."

They went to her room and he turned his back while she changed into her sleeping kimono and got into her futon. "All right, Sanosuke."

He blew out the candle and got into the futon next to hers, nervously determined to be a perfect gentleman. He could hear her soft breathing, and smell the jasmine of her hair, and he seemed to be in a wonderful dream even before he drifted off to sleep.

Megumi listened to Sanosuke gently snoring and she smiled to herself. She was almost asleep when he turned over and stretched out, just brushing against her, and she reached for him, curling her fingers around his. He opened his eyes at her touch, then went back to sleep, and the night passed away with them fast asleep hand in hand.


End file.
